The red-headed lovebird was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae.

[3] The red-headed lovebird is now one of nine species placed in the genus Agapornis that was introduced in 1836 by the English naturalist Prideaux John Selby.

[6] Two subspecies are recognised:[5] The red-headed lovebird is a 15 cm (6 inches) long, mostly green parrot.

It has a well demarcated red area on its head extending from the top of the beak, over the forehead to mid-crown, and extending to the left and right up to the eyelid margins.

[7] It has a patchy distribution across the African tropical rainforest.